A sort of allegory for the proceedings of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s mid-20th century House Un-American Activities Committee, Miller’s play follows the origins and devastating outcomes of the Salem witch trials of the late 1600s. Miller’s impulse to tell the story of that period’s prejudice and persecution stemmed from his own experiences as a defendant during the time in which many Hollywood and Broadway actors and writers were the subjects of the Communist “witch hunt.” The two trials are parallel in the way that many pointed fingers at seemingly random people, not because they were guilty, but because the accuser had something to gain if that person were to be accused. “The Crucible” is a story of betrayal and the consequences of deceit.